In My Own Little World
by FeatheredMask
Summary: Compelled by her fiancé's death, Misa killed herself. Her ghost wandered far, and somewhere along the way, became a Dementor. But Dumbledore doesn't have to know that.
1. Someone Said Goodbye

My Own Little World -chapter 1

The house was quiet for all but one person. For that person, the house screamed with thousands of voices. These voices sobbed, taunted, and shouted, all spouting gibberish. They never stopped; not for the sun, not for the moon. They filled the once peaceful times of the day with chaos. Why didn't they stop?

One sleepless night, she finally had enough of the voices.

No one stopped her as she ran to the top of the nearest church in the city. Perhaps God would take this pain from her. But even as her breath came in ragged huffs, the pound of her heart still hid beneath all of the voices.

"Please end it," the girl begged, her heart beating with the plea even beneath the pain. Taking a deep breath, she threw herself off the building. Her screams echoed throughout the city, disturbing once calm sleep.

The voices refused to be taken by death, yet she could finally understand them. They all said one thing: Kira. They drove her so far into madness she tried more then once to kill herself, before realizing she was already dead.

The Shrieking Shack gained its name through the shrieks, wails, and groans often heard from inside. Many thought ghosts had made that sound. Very few knew that a werewolf had made those sounds. After Remus Lupin left, a ghost took up residence.

For several years she cried and moaned, but soon became tired of that and decided she had no logical reason to cry, so she quelled it immediately.

Occasionally, she would visit the nearby town of Hogsmeade, and discovered she could turn invisible so as to not scare passers-by. Through trial and error, she figured out how to keep the illusion of a child reminiscent of her living body, although she couldn't change the gray clammy skin. Her mere presence seemed to drain surrounding persons of happiness, but after some research, took to handing out chocolate and teaching herself how to suppress her natural feeding abilities. Her child appearence became well-known in Hogsmeade, and due to her tendency to move without notice and her behavior differing from what was expected of children, she garnered a reputation as the "Ghost Child of Hogsmeade." She kept the location of her home well-hidden, so it came as a surprise when she heard a knock.

She could sense something happy behind the door, something living. It didn't wish her any ill will, and was even anxious about something. She found it impossible to delve further, and was left to assume from its emotions alone.

The emotions fluctuated with uncertainty, prompting Misa to say, "Come in."

A man in light blue robes and a pointed hat walked in. As he spoke, his guard fell for a second, giving Misa the chance to gain a small speck of information.

"Hello, I am-"

"Albus Dumbledore." Misa interrupted, examining him as a farmer would a plot of land and wonder what food could be grown.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, uneasiness hidden from his voice. "I heard about you during a trip to Hogsmeade, and I wondered if you would like to come study at my school."

"I have nothing more to do," Misa said without missing a beat. Her decision finalized, Misa picked up a small black bag and followed him out.

Misa had not strayed far from her shack or hogsmeade, and after they had steered clear of the Whomping Willow and were off in the direction of Hogwarts, she stared in wonder at the living beings before her. Misa ignored the man as he talked, choosing instead to admire the magnificent wonders of the living. She stared not in fear of the thestrals, but in awe. Misa skipped merrily down to the beautiful castle she would be attending, oblivious to all else.

* * *

><p>Filch stood up and straightened his back before looking down with satisfaction. The fruits of his hard work came in the form of flowers; the annual flowers for the year at Hogwarts. The last flower beamed up at him, as if congratulating him on his success. His gaze lifted to the rest of the flowers, but caught on something. It looked like an outline of a person. The outline came toward him, heedless of his widening eyes. It passed through him, forcing a shudder down his spine.<p>

The feeling was like the life had been sucked out of him, leaving nothing but cold. A feeling similar to frostbite, only worse. Filch nearly believed Hell had come to greet him, but then when he realized the cause was the outline, he thought it to be a demon of the worst kinds. He saw one thing before he fainted; hundreds of flowers, wilted and dead.

And he had just arranged them in a big 'H'.

* * *

><p>I decided to come back to an old fic of mine that I abandoned over a year ago. At first, Misa was a simple ghost charged with guarding Harry Potter. Now, I realize that's a stupid idea that would never go anywhere, so I revised it. As you can probably tell, Misa is a Dementor. (I thank whoever reviewed with that awesome idea.) She will not tag along with Harry and co, but rather, something that will tend to more of her needs. I mean, it's common knowledge that Dementors feed off of joy, and Harry certainly doesn't have enough of that.<p>

I'm still debating on which book to put her in. Care to suggest any ideas?


	2. Pilgrim

In My Own Little World

Disclaimer: I own not of Misa nor the world I've decided to write of.

NOTE: Thoughts of all characters will be referred to as thoughts, but will also appear as normal parts of the story without any kind of speaker tag. The sorting hat's thoughts will appear like dialog. To Misa, thoughts are a way of talking, but I won't have thoughts in dialog, as that would make things very confusing. She's [somewhat] aware that humans can't hear her mind.

* * *

><p>Misa stared at the fire, watching it intently. She always remembered it to be warm, yet it looked so cold. It danced around, as though trying to warm itself, shrieking whenever it landed on a cold spot.<p>

The fussy wizards argued right outside the room, so Misa entertained herself by watching the fire. However, it bored her soon enough, and she shifted her attention to the wizards. Instead of listening to the lies she heard through the door, she shifted through their emotions and thoughts.

What are we going to do with her? She's much too young to attend Hogwarts! They almost immediately dismissed Dumbledore's idea that she be in seventh year, on account of her appearing to be so young. Some wanted to send her home, but Dumbledore was very insistent that she stay.

They also thought of a hat. A hat that would refuse to sort her, apparently. She knew nothing about any hat or how she would be sorted. Instantly, more than a few minds jumped to other instances of early sortings, with only one instance having been sorted before the hat sang.

Lost in one memory, Misa found herself snapping back to the rest of the minds at the revelation of a new idea. She would be tested on first through seventh year knowledge, and depending on how she did, they would place her in the appropriate year. Dumbledore seemed to be the one who thought of it, though she couldn't be sure, as his mind stayed closed off to her.

The door opened, and Dumbledore swept in, trailed by four other wizards. Two smiled, one sneered, and the last was undecided.

Dumbledore spoke for them, "Hello again. I've discussed things with my colleagues, and we've come to a conclusion. But first, I believe introductions are in order."

A particularly short man stepped forward. "Hello, I am-"

"Filius Flitwick," Misa said, standing. She bowed once before turning her attention to the rest, leaving Flitwick spluttering some sort of query or argument.

"Pomona Sprout, Minerva McGonagall." Misa bowed to each as she said their names, ignoring the mental shocks of surprise. She frowned at the dour professor, but brightened as she collected the last name from Flitwick. "Severus Snape." Said professor's mood perked at this, and so did hers, even though his mind refused to reveal the reason.

"My name is Misa Amane. Pleased to meet you!"

Misa flashed a smile, then turned to Dumbledore. "I'll take the test now, if that helps."

Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled. She suspected he found her amusing, having shaken off the shock of the first time.

"We haven't got a specialized test ready for you, so we'll have to use the OWL test we're planning on using this year."

Dumbledore waved his wand, and a thick scroll appeared in his hands. He handed it to Misa, who seemed to have no problem holding it. She set it on Dumbledore's desk, careful not to shake the wood, eyeing a bundle of colorful quills perched precariously on a corner.

Dumbledore turned, the edge of his robe like gentle waves reaching for the door. The rest of the professors scurried along behind him soon after.

Misa listened to the thoughts and emotions of the professors until they were too far away to be a bother. She turned her attention to the scroll in front of her and looked over the first few questions. A smile spread over her face as she recognized all of them from an old scroll she once found in the Shrieking Shack.

She lifted a quill and dipped in the ink pot.

"That was certainly quick," Dumbledore chuckled, looking up from his soup.

Misa beamed at Dumbledore. The test had barely lasted her two hours. If it was that easy, then the rest of the year could be spent exploring and having fun.

Disbelief exploded in Misa's head. The professors made it obvious where the thoughts came from, with their food frozen halfway to their dropped jaws.

Snape recovered first, managing to appear calm. "Impossible. She can't have finished the entire thing in two hours. She must have left over half of them blank!"

Misa pouted. "I answered all of them!"

With a wave of a wand, the scroll disappeared. With another wave of a wand, a lump of old rags appeared in front of the headmaster. "Either way, I believe Miss Amane needs to be sorted."

Instantaneously, all thoughts of the test were swept away, replaced by memories and thoughts of some sort of hat. Mental snoring emanated from the mound of rags.

Well, go on, put the hat on.

Dumbledore opened his mouth, but closed it and adopted a puzzled expression when Misa popped the hat right on her head. The teachers closed their mouths as well, yet that didn't matter to Misa. Excited thoughts filled her head, one barely touching on the fact she put the hat on before leaping to memories.

"What a bubbly personality you have! It's sad your fiance found that an annoyance."

Fiance? She had a fiance?

"Rem and Ryuk? Interesting. A model? Good for you!"

Who? Or what? Who was thinking this? It was like they were talking to another person.

"Ah, this is something I can work with. That was brave of you, to risk your identity, and possibly your life, to find this ~~~~."

This what? What did it say? It seemed like the voices she usually ignored intensified at the end of that sentence.

"Excuse me, Dumbledore-san."

Dumbledore-san? This girl is Japanese? Why is she so far from her native country? **(2)**

Misa ignored the other professors and asked, "Is there anyone else in this room?"

Dumbledore answered, "No, it's just us."

Misa hated having to trust anything spoken, but he would have to make do with what he told her. So where were these new thoughts coming from. She made a quick check over the thoughts now and the thoughts earlier. Dumbledore and Snape remained as silent as ever, and the rest of the professors fussed over memories of past sortings. So the thoughts had to come from the last sentient being,-

"You were very loyal to Light, even cutting your lifespan in half -twice!- for him. That was also brave of you, as you had no idea how much longer you had."

-the hat.

"You still have quite a long time yet still to live, so no need to worry. I must say, you acted quite recklessly in your reign as the Second ~~~~, almost revealing yourself several times."

However, that still left the thoughts the hat spouted. Who was it talking to?

"Not much brains in that cute head-oh, you're welcome, it is a very cute head-, so Ravenclaw is out. Slytherin, too, in case you were wondering."

Maybe it was a recording? No, no, that couldn't be it; the professors each had different experiences with the hat. Maybe after so many years it had gone senile?

"Not much motivation to work. I suppose that means Hufflepuff isn't for you. Your loyalty might have won you over, but the object of your love is gone."

She was betting on the latter.

"GRIFFINDOR!"

At this word the hat opened what seemed to be a mouth and shouted. An air of displeasure oozed from Snape, while McGonagall practically glowed with the opposite emotion.

Dumbledore smiled and stood. "Now that's out of the way, I do believe Miss Amane needs her wand. Professor McGonagall, you can take our beautiful sand**(1)** to Diagon Alley."

"Miss Amane, have you ever travelled by Floo before?"

* * *

><p><strong>(2) <strong>I'm not sure if I want to have Misa say -san in the first place. It would certainly explain why I'm calling them by their last names instead of first names, and she is Japanese. She knows enough of the culture of wizards, but to her, adding honorifics and bowing is polite and common curtesy.

**(1)** Beautiful sand is the English translation of Misa.

I'm still iffy on what book I want to set this story in. Anyone want to suggest a book? It has to be either the first, second, third, or fifth. Fourth, sixth, and seventh are out due to personal preference, inability to work with the story, and having not read it (respectably).


End file.
